Fortified Solitude
by marapozsa
Summary: To sky-pirates, things like love are scarce indeed.


**Fortified Solitude**

a k a n t **h a e** - h i _m e_

**Authoress' Note and Disclaimer:** Erm. I'm not exactly sure why I wrote this, but I did. I don't much like it, but I do like balfran. (And I also think that In Memory of Our Revelation, that one other sentence collection I made for balfran, is better.)

All standard disclaimers apply - my official action phrase. If you review, which I doubt you will, try to sound intelligent. Please.

-

001 - bleak

She turns away and says bleakly, whispering to his dead body, "It'll break. It always will, try as I may to prevent it."

002 - angel

When Balthier asks Fran who she's praying to - perhaps an angel - Fran informs him that it's not so much prayer as it is petition.

003 - lamplight

The Strahl is affixed with ornamental lamps in the passageways because Balthier thought candles were too unreliable, and Fran agreed.

004 - privacy

At times, Fran wonders why Balthier has a key to her cabin, but only before she decides not to replace the lock.

005 - pulse

He considers it a little south of stony the way her mechanical fighting style has a beat he can hear.

006 - rhythm

Just breathing becomes an ordeal - a hitch in between every three beats - when Fran's around.

007 - nobility

Balthier knows that the viera don't have royalty, but when it comes to Fran he can't help but wonder why not.

008 - crown

The wreath of flowers he gave her, Galbana lilies and valeblossoms, is sitting on her dresser in a pool of sunlight.

009 - sword

Crossbow, gun, greatsword...she can do it all, which Balthier envies because he hasn't drawn a sword since he had fencing lessons as a youth.

010 - heartbeat

It stops.

011 - saint

It's only the gods that stop Fran from threatening Balthier with castration for the fifteenth time that week.

012 - everlasting

He doesn't think he'll ever forget her, but she does.

013 - shield

Fran always has to protect Balthier from his own folly - usually, the only reward she gets is a peck on the cheek.

014 - stars

Fran confesses silently, _the Wood has never allowed Her children to see more than an outline of the night sky._

015 - night

It's not nearly dawn when she awakens, entangled in sheets and nostrils flaring with the scent of musk and desire.

016 - victory

Balthier is given a thrilling chill by the prospect of battle, but to Fran it's just another page in the book of survival.

017 - oracle

His midwife had foretold a great destiny for him, but never Fran, which only goes to show Balthier that some things are not ordained by fate.

018 - gods

They don't believe in them.

019 - fortune

"The wealth of fools," he bragged when asked what made him so successful, when really Balthier had meant to say Fran.

020 - cathedral

Balthier pries the stained glass from a window with a pocketknife, wondering how it'll look as a mosaic on Fran's bedroom floor.

021 - portrait

She will never forget his face, no matter how many other men she's committed - or will commit - to memory.

022 - mother

Balthier has never had a true mother, but at least Fran did.

023 - children

Children are bound by blood to their parents, but Balthier is happy to see that Fran has managed to (partly) shake off those ties.

024 - nervous

Balthier hides it all behind a smirk; Fran doesn't need to, because she's _never_ nervous.

025 - leaf

Vaan likes asking Fran if she wants a carrot; Balthier doesn't get it.

026 - sweet

Chocolate melts on his tongue quick as lightning; it's fitting because Fran always wants a piece.

027 - seasons

Fran doesn't like the way trees die in the winter, so when the time rolls around Balthier always finds a way to get them both south of Dalmasca.

028 - little

Balthier turns around and asks, obviously annoyed, "Fran, why is it that every time we walk in the Sandsea they look at _you_ first?"

029 - caught

He'd have given his handkerchief to Fran instead, had it been Penelo in her place, far more gladly than he had before they were carted off to Nalbina.

030 - news

During the few times when they're separate - only when it's absolutely neccessary - Balthier is almost always dying to hear the word that she's still alive and not out of his reach.

031 - choker

Fran's annoyed at the way the necklace snags on her silver locks, but wears it anyway just to see the way Balthier's eyes light up as he eats up the sight.

032 - vacation

She never tells him when she needs a break from life, but he doesn't need to be told.

033 - tentacles

Fran has to scrub and scrub to get the feel of the Wild Malboro's tentacles off her skin, but for some reason it reminds her of Balthier's touch.

034 - orb

Her eyes, he can tell, are not as round as a rabbit's, but they remind him of other things than bunnies.

035 - rainwater

They're both drenched in it when they visit the Giza Plains at the wrong time of year.

036 - prophet

She can predict his every move with ease - although he still never ceases to amaze her.

037 - priest

They don't need a priest for a wedding because Jote would just ambush it.

038 - hierachy

On the social pyramid, they're both pretty high up.

039 - sparks

He strikes down the last Rook just for her, scraping a shower of sparks off the blue-gold paint with a well-aimed bullet.

040 - summer

It seems all the sun means to do to them is have them roast in the middle of a desert, rather than rot in the Barheim Passage.

041 - darkness

He pouts and complains, just to get another glimpse of her nude body before the lights go out, "I absolutely despise the dark. Can't we leave the lamp on tonight?"

042 - trial

The first time's a trial, because Fran is just too tall and feral to stay on the bottom.

043 - pension

He'll accumulate a fortune (someday, when he can stop Vaan from stealing the Strahl every month) so Fran can live like a queen after he dies.

044 - prison

He doesn't react as well to the bars on the window - singular, because there's only one and it's very high up - as Fran had expected.

045 - future

They don't have one because they're too busy picking apart their pasts.

046 - affair

Balthier is a womanizer, but at least (to Fran's relief) he's an honest one.

047 - princess

Ashe has a place in his heart, so Balthier turns his attention to Fran and ignores that shard of his soul.

048 - body

It might just matter to Balthier, but only for a little while, what size Fran is.

049 - leader

They alternate the role, depending on which one is better suited to the conflict.

050 - together

Fran has already lost her past - and Balthier his future, so they make up for it by sticking together for as long as they can.


End file.
